Heat & Disc space performance....

[Mainframeguy]

A couple of little things are bugging me on my main rig - and I propose addressing them - but just thought I would run them past the knowedgeable crew here first....

A while back (like two weeks or so) for reasons best skipped over I exchanged my stock fan on this XP3000+ which was running around 64oC under full load for a little igloo fan (nothing special, but fairly quiet)... So I knew I'd take a CPU temp hit, and I did - it was up 2 or 3 degrees to around 66oC under load (no doubt also partly due to hotter case temp with nice quiet PSU). Anyway as of last night temp suddenly took another jump to hit my MBM alarm at 69oC and is currently running at 68oC. Remains stable, but needless to say I have ordered better cooling. My question to the forum is if you use the "stock" paste does it have a sort of tendency to "burn out" and if so at what sort of temps does this happen and over what sort of time frame? I'd really like to install new Zalman such that I do not have to reapply paste - it is a bit of a hassle. I have not ordered extra paste, so will only have the Zalman paste supplied - hopefully that will be up to it.

Second question - not really related (but too lazy to run multiple threads!). I know it is healthy to run XP with a HD that is not anywhere near full, have read 50% is a good ballpark. Now I am not short of space with a primary 120GB drive and secondary 80GB - however I have chosen to partition in such a way that the C: partition that I set around 40GB only has 7GB free now. Wondering if this would cause me a performance hit? I will probably use PM to address things anyway, and if it does not help will even consider reformat - but was hoping to put that off until I got my AMD64 *sigh*. Again - any comments/advice/experience welcome.

Thanks in advance guys (or gals)

 

[Reg]

Question 1

Yes, stock paste (as with any paste) wears out over time. It's not so much as a temp thing, just a design thing. Depending on what kind of paste you use, you should say anywhere from 6 months to 3 years. Usually, stock paste (the paste that comes with a retail processor) will last about 3 years. Paste from an OEM fan should last between 1 - 3 years depending on the fan's recommended processors. Things such as silver usually last less than a year (some last longer).

Question 2

You usually do not take a performance hit until you reach "prime" on your HD. Prime is determined by how much space your OS uses for itself and its primary functions. For example, if you use Windows XP, you'll need at least 1.5 - 2GB for the OS (you need this free), about 1% of your HD size (for System Restore if turned on), about 1GB for logs, security alerts, etc, and about twice your RAM for SWAP free.

 

[American Zombie]

The problem with a silicon-based pad/paste is that at high temperatures it tends to dry up, forming air pockets and losing it's conductive properties.

Silver paste (AS5) does not have this problem as it is silver-based not silicon. But not all silver pastes are made with silver and if fact about the only one REALLY made with silver is AS5.

Some pastes say silver on them but they do not have silver or a very little amount.

If you have some time read this.

 

[Mainframeguy]

an aside..

this is slightly OT, but I guess if you're REALLY interested in matters thermal (and have time to spare) this could also be something you'd want to try (I do not personally have the time)